


Shoplifting Recovery

by unhappydersekids



Series: Reminiscent [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, General Bro sucks ass shit, Multi, Strilonde bullshit, Trigger Warnings, Underage Drinking, long fic, will update tags with chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 03:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17952662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unhappydersekids/pseuds/unhappydersekids
Summary: The voice greeting you is deeper than you remember it ever being. Then again, that was first grade and this is eight years later. He takes a deep breath and smiles, its warm and something you wouldn’t expect from him. After all, you both used to treat each other like shit for those first years of your early education. It was hair pulling and tattling on each other for those years. Recess was a battleground between your respected friend groups. That was back when the crows still visited your apartment and your sisters shared the bedroom across the hall from your own. It was a fine time of child play dramas and learning long division. It was before you knew what a fridge was really for, and when your mother was around…granted sporadically around but around.((This is a rewrite of Filled Spaces: Empty Rooms! Some information will be different but the general summary of that one works for this one as well.





	Shoplifting Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is story is the second draft of my Filled Spaces fic. If you want some minor spoilers, or to see where this all came from, check that out. Also, I will be trying to update every Thursday. But that might get iffy with school and work-related bullshit. 
> 
> I will also update each chapter with more tags and I will put trigger warnings in the notes before each chapter. If I miss any or you feel like I should I add/remove a tag, just let me know!

    Today is your first day of school. It’s crowded, more crowded than you ever could imagine. Anxiety builds in your throat as your hand reaches to grab the back of Rose’s shirt. She is much better than you are at handling herself. She is the image of a perfect child aside from her resting bitch face. Her lips are quirk up in an amused smirk as she scans the crowds of children. Kids scream and run into the building before you, waving goodbye to parents from around corners. Others hold their guardians' hands, walking up to the building. Some brat is crying a few feet away, as an older woman kisses his cheek. Your older brother, Dirk, gently nudges you forward. You stumble over your own feet, lucky to gain your balance before your face meets the pavement. Rose glances back at you, scans to make sure you’re fine before she takes a step away. Her confidence swells as her eyes land a large, mismatched group.

    You’ve never gone to school before. Dirk, Roxy, and Rose all went to PreK but you didn’t. You never really had an urge to go to school but, after a couple of phone calls from some lady, Mom insisted that you go as well. It took Mom yelling at Bro and some grown-up time for him to agree to let you attend. Today is your first year of the first grade.

    Dirk walks ahead with a look on his face you’ve never seen before. Roxy is in front of him, skipping to make the sparkly, pink hearts on her sneakers light up. They're twinkle-toe shoes, Mom got them for her a week ago. They both go to a group of five kids, giving smiles and greetings. None of which you know, they all look older than your siblings. Dirk and Roxy are your older siblings; they are in 4th grade, two years older than you. Rose stops in front of the large group, and you tag behind, unsure where to go. She’s a year older than you, sometimes you think she’s smarter than Mom. She uses fancy words and seems to understand things that go right over your head. She wears worn Mary-Jane shoes but they look new. She’s messy at home but here, she is well put together. The stark contrast between you two is evident, even in the way you stand.

    Dirk finds you before you enter the school, he yanks you back harder than he means to but you don’t complain. You don’t even wince! Pride for your growing manliness swells. “Hey, kiddo, I gotta take you to the front office first.” He says, voice smooth and oh so like your Bro’s. Roxy bounces up behind, grinning wide, her pink and purple rubber bands on her braces making her even more charming. Her hair is up in pig-tails, glittery white eyeshadow compliments her smile. She stole it from the corner store down the block from your apartment. You admire her quick hand and innocence that allows her to get away with it.

    As you’re led down into the school, and down the hall, you feel uneasy. This building is unlike any other you’ve been in. The white tiled ceiling is relatively stain free, the bricks walls have posters and colorful designs tacked to them. The floor is an ugly black and blue printed carpet, with little specks of red and yellow. You turn corners and read the numbers on the doors, look at the art projects, try to grasp why there’s a giant snail on the wall. As you approach the front office, you notice many adults mingling behind the desk and in other, smaller rooms. It makes your stomach sit strangely. Yet that feeling quickly leaves as you enter the glass-encased room. It’s colorful, has chairs and toys. There’s even a fish tank! As Dirk and Roxy greet the lady at the desk, you wander to the circle-shaped sitting area. Here, you stare into the fish-tank, hands kept at your sides, despite how tempting it is to tap the glass. You hesitate to leave the fish-tank when Dirk calls you over.

  
    The lady behind the desk says a soft good morning, and you only reply when Roxy nudges your leg. She explains that you’ll be in the yellow hallway, with the 1st and 2nd-grade classrooms. Rose is in the 2nd grade, so you’ll have recess with her. But, you won’t see Dirk or Roxy till the end of the day. It’s a little disappointing but, you’re a ‘lil man’, you can handle yourself! Dirk tells you that your teacher is kind and that you’ll like her. But, you don’t know. Even at the tender age of six, self-hatred swirls in your gut, you are not smart like your siblings. Dirk and Roxy are in advanced math and science classes, while Rose is learning French. You doubt you’ll do any of that, you can barely even read.

    As Dirk leads you to the yellow hall, Roxy darts off into the blue hall. Your hallway pretty empty but you still find yourself peering into classrooms and examining the student work that litter the walls. You stop at the last door on the right-hand side of the hall. The door is decorated with swirls of color, and little thank you notes from long ago students.

    Sucking in a deep breath, you walk into the classroom. Kids your age swarm around desks and scream as they play before the first bell. Dirk leads you over to a large desk, a woman sits there, you assume she is the teacher. She looks across the room fondly at a boy who sits crisscrossed. He has messy hair and is wearing a short-sleeved white t-shirt with a small crab on the front. His shorts are beige and his shoes are untied, a girl is reading to him quietly. You look away as her attention is drawn over to the 4th grader in her classroom.

    While Dirk introduces you in a very adult voice, you get distracted with the boy in the crab shirt again. Before you can spend too much time being creepy, someone pops up into your line of vision. It’s the boy that was crying outside, here he looks fine. He’s grinning wide and is missing both teeth on either side of his front two. This only makes the obvious buck-tooth grin more buck-tooth.

    “HI!” He screams into your ear making it ring slightly. The guy notices that he has your attention and sticks his out hand awkwardly, still grinning. “My name’s John, what’s yours?” His voice isn’t painfully loud but it’s still high-pitched. His brown hair is fitted around his large framed glasses. You look him over and don’t shake his hand, Bro said handshakes were for pussies. “Dave.” You answer plainly, with a small shrug. This seems to satisfy him, and he grins wider. He seems like a small puppy. You’ve never seen such an energetic person before, it’s a little unnerving. “My full name is John Egbert-” Before he can say anything else, Dirk says your name and draws your attention away. He introduces you to your teacher, her name is Miss Maryam. Dirk makes you shake her hand, and you stand disgruntled the whole time.

    Nervousness curls in your stomach as Dirk leaves the classroom and goes to his own. Miss Maryum leads you to an empty desk and gives you a piece of paper to write your name on. She also hands you a box of thick markers. Without Dirk, the classroom is too big, too loud, and yet it’s too small at the same time. You sit at your seat and carefully write out your first name. It’s something to focus on, so you try and make it perfect.

    Your handwriting isn’t pretty like Rose’s, it isn’t as messy as Dirk’s, but it’s also not Roxy’s. Rose taught you how to write, she tried to make you write cursive but Dirk told her otherwise. Your handwriting is odd. It’s too sharp and you hold the marker just a little wrong. You write your name as neat as you can, trying to copy the lettering of the Alphabet that’s stapled above the whiteboard. It comes out weird, much more rounded than normal. Deciding you hate it, you turn the tag over and slap your name across this side.

    When you bring it up to the teacher, she smiles at you. You stand still and don’t smile back. She doesn’t seem to mind too much, grabbing some tape and leading back over to your desk.  
As she tapes it over the right upper hand corner of the desk, she talks. “I am aware you aren’t a people person but, I want you to introduce yourself to class.” Her words make you feel cold but you nod. You don’t openly disobey, Dirk had warned you to always do what someone tells you in school. He said if you didn’t, they’d call Bro. The thought holds heavy with the threat of a hot rooftop and a sword.

    The bell rings and you flinch, it’s louder than you thought it would be. Surprisingly, she doesn’t say anything. She pulls you along to the front of the class as kids scramble into their seats. Their eyes land on you, asking questionings. She smiles and says good morning. Eleven small voices reply to her, all cheerful and excited for the school day. You stand as casual as you can, just like Bro taught you. She puts her hand on your shoulder, and you resist the urge to push her off. You don’t like people touching you unless it’s your siblings.

    “We have a new student today; his name is Dave. This is his first day of school so, I’m sure you’ll all be very nice.” She says, her voice is smooth and calms you down even if she is touching you. “Introduce yourself?” She asks you.

    “My name is Dave Strider, I am six.” You say, your voice is calm and cool, Bro would be proud. Someone pipes up to ask a question, “Why do you wear those silly glasses?” You recognize him, it’s John. The kid in the crab shirt sends a glare his way. You scan the room and realize the girl that was reading to him is gone. You’re attention drifts back, John. He doesn’t mean it in a bad way, he’s just curious but you’re sour nonetheless. Despite this, you don’t let it show and give a shrug. This shakes off Miss Maryam’s hand as well.

    You open your mouth but she speaks before you can, “Dave has very light sensitive eyes, he needs sunglasses to see.” You want to pout and say no, they’re cool. But, that’d be lame and you are not lame. You keep your mouth shut though, able to feel the ghost of Bro’s sword on your arms.

 

☆ ☆ ☆

 

    Lunch is scary. It’s just that simple but, as you enter the room, you spot your siblings! They’re in separate areas of the room. Dirk is the first one to see you, but as you start to go towards him, he shakes his head. You stop dead in your tracks, a teacher heading your way.

    His face is scared like Bro. He’s scary to the other kids of your class but, he’s not as scary as Bro. When he comes up to you, he asks you what you think you’re doing out of line. You stupidly mumble to see your brother, the next thing you know, you’re in the back of the line. You don’t see the actual pain of this punishment as it dawns on you that there’s free food. You’re excited, especially when you get close enough to see that it’s hot food. As you’re handed a tray, you smile to yourself. It falls when someone screams hi in your ear.

    “Hi, Dave!” Says John, he cut in line to get to you. The few kids that came in late from washing their hands look upset but say nothing. It seems John is everyone’s friend, so you’re no different. You don’t trust him. “Hey.” You say as you take out the little slip of paper that Dirk gave you on the bus. It has a number on it, you don’t know what it means. You hand it to the guy at the end of the line that seems to check everyone out. He takes it, glances down at you and then hands it back. He looks a little pleased as you walk away with John trailing behind you. Lunch is uneventful, you sit alone, only because you ignored John. The food is good, it tastes warm and fills you up. You’ve never had milk before but, you decide it’s gross. Nonetheless, you drink it. It’s free after all, and Dirk taught you to never let anything free go to waste.

    The rest of the school day passes by uneventfully. You take a couple of tests to see where you are academically and surprise everyone that you’re really good at math. You enjoy recess, meeting all of Rose’s and John’s friends. Tomorrow, they promise to show you their game and explain that today is a break day from it. You spend the rest of recess drawing with chalk, alone.

    Dirk is waiting for you when you leave the classroom to go home, he grabs your hand and you walk along beside him. It’s not cool to be so dependent on your big brother but you are. He’s stronger than you ever will be, he holds you when you cry, he covers your mouth when you want to scream. Dirk is always there for you.

    Technically you only have one sibling. Dirk is your uncle, and Roxy is your aunt. But, Mom and Bro raised you like you were all siblings. Not to mention how close your ages all are. You aren’t certain of family specifics, you’re only six after all. Dirk is eight, and he’s smarter than you. He understands it better than you do. One day maybe you’ll understand your confusing family tree but for now, you are content with saying you’re all siblings.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know if I missed any grammar or spelling mistakes.


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